Alabamian blazing trails in sports media

One Alabama Baptist believes a new sports Web site may be just the winning ticket in winning young people to Christ by highlighting athletes who are open in sharing their faith.
   
The official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Baptist Press (BP) debuted BP Sports Sept. 5. Joining them in the venture is 22-year-old Ashley Michael, a 1996 graduate of Chilton County High School and a May graduate of Samford University.
   
Will Hall, vice president for news services of the Executive Committee of SBC, said BP Sports, located at www.bpsports.net, offers national coverage of 56 Baptist and traditionally Baptist colleges and universities.
   
The site is aimed toward younger Southern Baptists, according to Hall, and  includes what he described as a “sports-themed plan of salvation.” Also featured are a live sports ticker with up-to-the-minute scores, opinion polls and feature stories on Christian athletes.
   
Michael said the draw of a Web site featuring Baptist colleges and universities should prove popular with their fans and alumni. “We’re trying to cover as many Baptist universities and colleges as we can,” she said.
   
To that end, Michael said the site takes press releases from university sports departments and subsequently publishes information on everything from basketball to wrestling.
   
The importance of covering those programs can’t be overstated, according to Todd Starnes, assistant editor of BP. Starnes said there are close to 10,000 Southern Baptist athletes.
  
“For the most part, they’re not receiving any coverage at all,” Starnes said. “This gives them an outlet to receive media coverage.
   
“These kids are out there working as kids in Division I schools and we wanted to provide the coverage they deserve,” Starnes said. “There’s a lot of activity going on in Baptist sports that’s just not being covered.”
   
But more than providing information, both Michael and Starnes said it is hoped the site will serve as a witnessing tool, along with increasing the interest among younger Christians in Baptist life.
   
“We feel one way to do that is to provide a Web site that would be conducive to their interests,” said Starnes.
   
More than just a sports information wire, Michael said it is hoped BP Sports will be a witnessing tool through its features and profiles. “It’s kind of a unique ministry in that we try to get a Christian angle on the features,” she said.
   
The popularity of sports and the interest in sports-oriented Web sites are factors she believes might draw non-Christians to BP Sports. “It definitely has its own pull,” she said.
   
Starnes said BP Sports is committed to covering “solid sports stories.” And the influence athletes have on young people’s lives cannot be ignored.
   
“I think the athletes have the most impact,” said Michael, who believes media stars may be revered, but are seldomly taken seriously.
   
She said the average young people love sports and elevate athletes to hero status. “Most kids are going to relate and look up to that person,” Michael said.
   
“Kids, they want to do the cool thing,” Michael said. “If the person you idolize has a faith and is open about it, the kid is going to be more open in his faith.”
   
The recent Samford graduate still remembers the respect she felt as a child when athletes pointed to their faith in God.
   
“If God was mentioned, my respect for that person tripled,” said Michael, who graduated from Samford University in May with a major in journalism.
   
The Web site joins a host of other options on the Internet — along with television and movies — where teenagers are receiving messages that may not glorify God.
   
“You have to compete to get their attention,” she said.
   
Starnes said the goal of BP Sports means it must go beyond being just another a site that features scores and stories.
   
“We are Christian journalists,” he said. “As Christian journalists, we have a responsibility not only to provide information, but minister as well.”
   
To do that, BP Sports looked to someone with a background in sports reporting.
   
Michael comes to Baptist Press after working for nbcolympics.com during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She has held internships with Sports Illustrated, MSNBC Sports and with a professional basketball team during a semester-long study program in London.
   
At Samford, she served as sports editor for the Samford Crimson, the student newspaper. Also during college, she free-lanced for The Birmingham News for three years, covering football, basketball and baseball.
   
In 1999 she was one of eight students nationwide selected for the NCAA & Freedom Forum Sports Writing Award.
   
“We wanted to be able to get in there and interview top quality athletes,” Starnes said.
   
Michael is the daughter of Larry and Mary Ann Michael. The couple lives in Clanton, where Larry Michael serves as pastor of First Baptist Church, Clanton.